Commodity computing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:38, 28 December 2006

Revision as of 08:41, 28 December 2006

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'''Commodity computing''' is computing done on commodity computers as opposed to supermicrocomputers or boutique computers. Commodity computers are [[computer system]]s manufactured by multiple vendors, incorporated components based on [[open standard]]s. Such systems are said to be based on [[commodity]] components since the standardization process promotes lower costs and less differentiation among vendor's products.

== The= History of Commodity Computing ===

== The Mid-1960s to Early 1980s ==

The first computers were large, expensive, complex and proprietary. The move towards commodity computing began when [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] introduced the [[PDP-8]] in 1965. This was a computer that was relatively small and inexpensive enough that a department could purchase one without convening a meeting of the board of directors. The entire [[minicomputer]] industry sprang up to supply the demand for 'small' computers like the PDP-8. Unfortunately, each of the many different brands of minicomputers had to stand on their own because there was no software and very little hardware compatibility between them.

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This process accelerated in 1977 with the introduction of the first commodity - like microcomputer, the [[Apple II]]. With the development of the [[Visicalc]] application in 1979, microcomputers broke out of the factory and began entering office suites in large quantities, but still through the back door.

== 1980s to Mid-1990s ==

The [[IBM PC]] was introduced in 1981 and immediately began displacing Apple II's in the corporate world, but commodity computing as we know it today truly began when [[Compaq]] developed the first true IBM PC compatible. More and more PC compatible microcomputers began coming into big companies through the front door and commodity computing was well established.

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The old processor architectures began to fall, first minis, then [[supermini]]s, and finally [[Mainframe computer|mainframes]]. By the mid 1990s, every computer made was based on a microprocessor, and most were microcomputers compatible with IBM PC. Although there was a time when every traditional computer manufacturer had its own proprietary micro-based designs there are only a few manufacturers of non-commodity computer systems today. However, super microcomputers (large-scale computer systems based on one or more microprocessors, like those of the IBM p, i, and z series) still own the high-end of the market.

=== Commodity Computing in the Present Day ===

As the power of microprocessors continues to increase, there are fewer and fewer business computing needs that cannot be met with off-the shelf commodity computers. It is likely that the low end of the supermicrocomputer genre will continue to be pushed upward by increasingly powerful commodity microcomputers. There will be fewer non-commodity systems sold each year, resulting in fewer and fewer dollars available for non-commodity R&D, resulting in a continually narrowing performance gap between commodity microcomputers and proprietary supermicros.